JAKARTA – Potentially hazardous asteroids have been identified using a new algorithm, designed to uncover asteroids or near-Earth objects (NEO).
An algorithm called HelioLinc3D from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in the Chilean Andes, South America, aims to scan the sky over the next 10 years.
The Rubin Observatory is not operational at the moment, but is scheduled for 2025. It will rely on a 3.2 gigapixel camera to carry out its imaging. At 5.5 feet wide and 10 feet long, it is the largest digital camera ever made.
HelioLinc3D was developed by Ari Heinze, a researcher at the University of Washington and Siegfried Eggl, now a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The algorithm is able to find data on asteroids that may be spread across several days of observations from a single satellite.
Before starting its mission, HelioLinc3D was tested using a special telescope Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii, USA, and discovered a 600-foot asteroid named 2022 SF289.
Currently, asteroid 2022 SF289 is about four Earth times from the Sun. But the celestial body swings past Earth on the opposite side of its orbit, classifying it as a potentially hazardous asteroid, or PHA.
Initially, the ATLAS Telescope began observing from September 19, 2022, but was only captured once that night. Luckily, the asteroid was found again three times on two separate nights, and HelioLinc3D was able to piece together the puzzle to find the asteroid lurking in plain sight.
While 2022 SF289 is a potentially hazardous asteroid, it is not a threat, and although its orbital path would bring it within 140,000 miles of Earth, it is unlikely to impact the planet at any point in the future.
“By demonstrating the effectiveness of real-world software that Rubin will use to search for thousands of yet-unknown potentially hazardous asteroids, the discovery of 2022 SF289 keeps us all safer,” said Heinze.
Scientists only estimate that from its length, the asteroid is likely to be devastating, but not a major disaster, as quoted by Gizmodo and various sources, Wednesday, August 2.
“This is just a fraction of what is expected with the Rubin Observatory in less than two years, when HelioLinc3D will find objects like this every night,” said Rubin Observatory scientist Mario Jurić.
“From HelioLinc3D to AI-assisted code, the next decade’s discoveries will be as much a story of advancements in algorithms as they are in big new telescopes.”
Tag: outer space asteroid esa
2023-08-02 15:05:00
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